The Chairman Dances (ballet)
Encyclopedia
The Chairman Dances is a ballet made by New York City Ballet
balletmaster in chief Peter Martins
to John Adams' eponymous music from 1985. The music was originally written for Adams' opera, Nixon in China
, but not used in production: the scene is that in which Mao Zedong
dances with his future bride, movie star Chiang Ch'ing
. The premiere took place on May 14, 1988, as part of City Ballet's American Music Festival at New York State Theater
, Lincoln Center
, with scenery and costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian
, and lighting by Mark Stanley.
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
balletmaster in chief Peter Martins
Peter Martins
Peter Martins is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was named man of the year by Danish American Society, 1980...
to John Adams' eponymous music from 1985. The music was originally written for Adams' opera, Nixon in China
Nixon in China (opera)
Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with...
, but not used in production: the scene is that in which Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
dances with his future bride, movie star Chiang Ch'ing
Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life...
. The premiere took place on May 14, 1988, as part of City Ballet's American Music Festival at New York State Theater
New York State Theater
The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet and opera, part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts located at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in New York City, United States. Originally named the New York State Theater, the house has been home to both the New York...
, Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
, with scenery and costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Rouben Ter-Arutunian was a costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television.Born in Tiflis, Georgia, he attended the Reimann Art School from 1939 to 1941, studied film music at the Hochschule fur Musik and took courses at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University , 1941–43, and at the...
, and lighting by Mark Stanley.
External links
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E7DB1F3BF930A15752C0A961958260NY Times review by Jennifer DunningJennifer DunningJennifer Dunning is a writer and critic for the New York Times on the subjects of dance and ballet. She is the author of the 1985 But First a School: The First Fifty Years of the School of American Ballet, the 1996 Alvin Ailey, a Life in Dance and the 1997 Great Performances: A...
, January 23, 1997]
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/arts/dance/09whee.htmlNY Times review by Alastair MacaulayAlastair MacaulayAlastair Macaulay is a dance critic for the New York Times. He was previously chief dance critic at The Times Literary Supplement and chief theater critic of the Financial Times, both of London...
, February 9, 2008]